OTTAWA, May 18, 2017 /CNW/ - The Canadian Federal Pilots Association today issued the following statement in response to this morning's report from the Transportation Safety Board further to its investigation into Air Canada 624 which crashed on approach to the Halifax International airport on March 29, 2015.

"According to the TSB report, the main cause of the accident relates to a discrepancy between two key documents that provided instruction to the pilots about how to conduct a proper descent and landing. Both documents had been reviewed and approved by Transport Canada.

"Although Air Canada had been subject to four SMS-type inspections on its flight operations department in the two years previous to the crash, these Transport Canada activities failed to pick up this critical shortcoming.

"I fail to see how this discrepancy slipped through the cracks without notice by either the regulator or the airline. For passengers, this is a cautionary tale," said Captain Greg McConnell, National Chair of the Canadian Federal Pilots Association."

The Canadian Federal Pilots Association represents the licenced pilots who work at Transport Canada as aviation inspectors, as well as the pilots who work at the Transport Safety Board and Nav Canada.